Predictions as the Giants Travel to London
Courtesy: Giants.com
For week five of the season, the Giants are making their way to Europe. Here they will be versing the Green Bay Packers who will be making their first ever trip to London. This match up will be the second of three games to take place out of state as the first match was last Sunday when the Minnesota Vikings took on the New Orleans Saints.
New York had a pretty strong start to the season, going 2-0 by week two. By the time week three rolled around, the Giants faced off against their long standing rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. Suffering their first loss of the season, the Giants had a record of 2-1 at the end of week three.
Week four, just this past Sunday, the Giants faced the Bears at home. Predictions were split in half as up until this point, both New York and Chicago had played a similar game and looked like similar teams.
To recap their game against the Bears, the Giants pulled out a win 20-12 making their record for the season an impressive 3-1 which is the teams best start since 2011. But before making predictions for their London game, its important to note who is injured and which players have been paving the way for the Giants.
Daniel Jones ran for two touchdowns in the first half before suffering an ankle injury which limited his play and ultimately took him out of the game. Replacing him was Tyrod Taylor who followed in Jones footsteps by suffering an injury as well. Making it until half way through the fourth quarter, Taylor was down after a concussion. Despite the Giants having their best start in eleven years, the team has to reevaluate who their quarterback will be for their face off in London.
“You don’t panic. You try to stay composed. You try to give people a plan that they can go out and execute and believe in when they need to do it. ”
Stepping up and leading the Giants toward their win last week was Saquan Barkley. He secured 133 rushing yards over expected and has a current total of 436 rushing yards over the course of four games. After his performance against the Bears, he set a franchise record for the most rushing yards in the team’s running back history.
Dexter Lawrence also wrapped up last week as New York’s energy player of the week. With two sacks, eight total pressures, and 93.8 PFF pass rush grade, he has proven to be a power player for the Giants.
Looking ahead, the Giants plan on playing Davis Webb as a starter on Sunday despite the fact that he is on the practice squad. Though the Giants have a quarterback secured, they still need one to back up Webb.
Green Bay did not have a great overall performance last weekend but they still managed to secure the win against the New England Patriots. Coming in 3-0, Green Bay is looking to secure their fourth consecutive win.
As Barkley has been a power player for New York, Green Bay looks to hold him to under one hundred rushing yards. This is their main goal, to slow him down. If the Packers offense makes a fast start and gets a quick lead, they may be able to take the win in London.
It all comes down to the energy and talent that is brought to the field by both teams. With a 9:30AM start Eastern Time, we’ll see bright and early if New York can defeat Green Bay.
